I love visiting the Adirondacks and ADORE seeing my kids on top of Adirondack mountains. Recently we got to go back to the Adirondacks as a family of four!
Right now, our daughter is 4.5 years old, and our son is 1.5 years old. So they have very different abilities and needs during a hike. And one of my favorite things about the Adirondacks is the variety of trails that are available. There are a ton that are long, technical, and strenuous. But there are also SO many that are short and fairly easy- but still offer stunning views.
Another one of my favorite things (there are many!) is that there are a lot of different Adirondack hiking challenges to work on. These challenges come with a variety of trails and requirements, from easy to super challenging.
Spending time on the summit of Goodman Mountain.
Why the Triad
Since our family is so young right now, I wanted to work on a challenge with the kids… but I also wanted it to be not-that-challenging.
Cue the Tupper Lake Triad!
The Triad is, in my opinion, the easiest hiking challenge in all the Adirondack region.
As the name suggests, the challenge is made up of three hikes. Each hike gets you to the summit of a mountain near Tupper Lake, NY, and each summit has some beautiful views.
And the reward is well worth the work because in order to complete these hikes you don’t have to travel much distance, or gain (too) much elevation!
Our 4.5 year-old was able to walk to the top of each mountain in the triad, and felt so proud of herself after *completing the challenge.
*I carried her down from all the summits so TECHNICALLY she didn’t complete the challenge but please nobody tell her that!
I loved watching my daughter summit these little mountains.
Things to do in Tupper Lake
We spent two days in Tupper Lake to complete the challenge.
In between hiking mountains, we visited the Wild Centre, where the kids had a ton of fun looking at the fish, river otters, and birds that live there. As well as playing on the huge spiderweb suspended high above the ground! We didn’t have time to visit the sandy beach in town, but will definitely get to Little Wolf Beach at some point! We also didn’t get to the Adirondack Sky Centre and Observatory. But we DID eat some delicious, handmade donuts. So, it turns out if you look for it, there’s a lot more to do in Tupper Lake than just hiking.
Mountains in the Triad
But when you DO go to hike, and complete the Tupper Lake Triad, here are the mountains you’ll be summitting:
Mount Arab: 3.2 km roundtrip, elevation gain – 229 metres
Coney Mountain: 3.5 km roundtrip, elevation gain- 171 metres
Goodman Mountain: 5.5 km roundtrip, elevation gain- 177 metres
We hiked Goodman Mountain first. Only because it was the longest hike and we decided to complete Goodman one day and leave the other two trails for the next day. Goodman, despite the distance, was a super easy hike, and had gorgeous views from its rocky summit.
Next, we hiked Coney Mountain because it was the closest to Goodman, and to where we were staying. Coney was a bit rockier on the way up, which the kids enjoyed. Our daughter seemed to make it her mission to step on every single rock on the trail on the way up. Coney’s summit was the biggest, making it easier to let the kids wander a bit while we soaked in the views from each angle.
And last but not least, we hiked Mount Arab. This hike was cool because it also counted towards the Fire Tower Challenge. Which means that it has a full-on fire tower up at the summit! The tower on Mount Arab is open to the public and so we climbed to the very top. This afforded us some beautiful views that we wouldn’t have had otherwise, because the summit of Mount Arab is wooded.
Each mountain was wonderful in its own way, and we had an awesome weekend enjoying the outdoors with our little ones. I hope this challenge will encourage you to visit the Adirondack region with your own families. It’s truly one of my favorite places and I think it might be one of yours too, once you visit!
On the summit of Coney Mountain, making memories.
